Slamming pool

[brames]

I opened pool and had blue water then all the rain came and I now have very green water. I have been trying to slam my pool not sure if Im doing it right. Last night I had:

FC 0
CC .4
TA 120
CH 180
PH 7.6
CYA didn't exist

So I went and put 4 lbs of cyanuric acid stabilizer and then before bed added 3.5 lbs of 99% dichlor-s-triazinetrione and then at 8 am this morning added 2 jugs of clorox 128 oz. each. When I got home water is still very green. Now my readings are:

FC 7.6
PH 7.0
CYA 90 Will this go down after some time?
CC .6
TA 80
CH 270

Should I now increase PH or what should I do now: Not sure about the whole slamming procedures.

 

[jblizzle]

Welcome to TFP!!!

All that Dichlor added CYA (and lowered the pH) in addition to the CYA you added and it appears that now you have too much. Only way to lower it is to replace water.
Why 2 jugs of bleach? Was that based on testing and then using PoolMath to calucluate how much to add to reach a specific target?

Seems like you might be trying to do too much too fast and need to slow down.

So, first, start using a 10ml water sample for the FAS-DPD test so that each drop is 0.5ppm as this will save reagent.

Using PoolMath and assuming 17k gallons of water. 4 pounds of stabilizer would add 28ppm of CYA. And 3.5 pounds of dichlor would add 12ppm of CYA. So clearly there is no way your CYA went from 0 to 90ppm with those 2 additions since it only added 40ppm.

I would just assume your CYA is 40ppm for now and use that to determine your shock level from the FC/CYA Chart. And then use PoolMath to maintain that FC level of 16ppm and follow the ShockLevelAndMAINTAIN Process.

 

[carlp]

Your PH was OK (7.6) when you started the SLAM, and PH readings go all haywire once the FC gets up to shock levels, so don't worry about PH, CYA, TA, or any other readings until the SLAM is done.

At this point, your only task is to kill the algae and filter out their carcasses.


Remember, SLAM includes:

1. A LOT of jugs of liquid chlorine or chlorine bleach (unscented and all that)
2. FC maintained above the shock level of 16ppm (if we assume CYA is around 40). At the beginning you will be testing and adding chlorine every few hours (use PoolMath to figure out how much bleach you should be adding each time)
3. SLAM is done when you pass the OCLT AND CC is less than 0.5 AND the water is clear.

It is all covered here: SLAM

Don't sweat it. This is part of pool ownership!

 

[jblizzle]

PH readings go all haywire once the FC gets up to shock levels.

That is kind of an over-generalization. The pH will read artificially high when the FC > 10ppm ... that is predicable and would not be considered "haywire" in my mind

 

[carlp]

Hows it going Brames? Any progress?

 

[brames]

No progress still very green cya still up near 75 from 90 ph 7.4 and chlorine dropping to 10.5. I added more water last night but nothing happened I've drained about 1 ft of water tonight and adding more water hopefully that will reduce the cya

 

[Task]

Where are you getting your numbers from? Are you using one of the recommended test kits or are they pool store test results?

 

[brames]

I am using the Taylor 2006 test kit

 

[pooldv]

Have you read this, SLAMing Your Pool? It does not seem like you are maintaining your FC at the right levels for your CYA. Which would explain why you are not making much progress.

 

[Casey]

When you opened the pool, did you circulate the water for at least a half hour before testing?

 

[brames]

i have had it clear when i first opened pool then a lot of rain came and the pool turned green. I have been to the pool store today and the readings were
ph 7.5
FC 3.98
CC.78
CH293
CYA 57

It is very green, I have been vacuuming the pool as well as filtering. They said all my readings were good the only thing they recommended was to add a filter aid the the sand filter. I did that and then went to the pool calculator and calculated if I added (3) 128 oz bottles of bleach that would bring my FC up by 13 so it would be close to 17. I am waiting to read again in 1 hour and see what the FC is. Any suggestions?

 

[Azgirl71]

What did you add to the sand filter? Also why a pool store test?

 

[brames]

I added a dry clarifier to the sand through skimmer. I was frustrated so I went to the pool store to check my numbers. I just checked the fc is 17.0. Do I need to check in how long?

 

[pooldv]

Does your CYA test still say 75?

If it does, the Chlorine CYA Chart says that the shock level for CYA of 80 is 31. Are you keeping your FC at 31? And testing multiple time per day and dosing to bring it back to 31? If not that is why you are not making progress on your SLAM.

Even if you think the pool store CYA test is more accurate than yours (which is unlikely) then the Chlorine CYA Chart says that shock level is 24 ppm.

What level FC are you targeting and maintaining? What I see in your posts is FC levels of 10, 8 6 and 4. Your pool will stay green forever with FC at those levels.


Have you read this link? SLAMing Your Pool

 

[brames]

Yes I have read the slamming your pool. I thought the pool cya might be more accurate than mine so I went with it I am trying to keep a FC of 24 because they told me it was cya 57. I will be testing again in just a little while.

 

[JasonLion]

Trust your own testing over the pool store results. A complete novice with a good test kit is better than 90% of all pool store water testing.

 

[pooldv]

OK, sounds good.

 

[Beens]

Trust your own testing over the pool store results. A complete novice with a good test kit is better than 90% of all pool store water testing.

+1 yours is more likely to be accurate.

 

[brames]

How do I know when to backwash pump? I feel like the pressure never goes up more than 5 psi but the water flow decreases so I backwash. Not sure if when water slows is that time to backwash or does the sand filter catch more particles then?

 

[jblizzle]

You should clean the filter when the pressure rises 20-25% over the clean pressure.